The Month Of April Seems Prone To Mass Violence

After Monday's bombing at the Boston Marathon, many people are
casting around for an explanation have focused on the date: April
15, a holiday in Massachusetts and the middle of a month with a
history of violence.

It's not yet known whether the
perpetrator or perpetrators of the bombing, which killed
three, chose April 15 for its associations with tax day or with
Massachusetts' Patriots' Day, a commemoration of the first
battles of the Revolutionary War. The month could simply be a
coincidence, given that the Boston Marathon, always held on the
third Monday of April, was a convenient target.

Nevertheless, some have speculated about the symbolism. On
NBC, reporter
Tom Llamas told Matt Lauer that "over the last 20 years in this
country several terrorist attacks and school
shootings have taken place around this time of the year." He
cited the Virginia Tech shooting, which took place April 16,
2007; the Columbine school shooting, which occurred April 20,
1999, and the Oklahoma City bombing, which took place on April
19, 1995.